The Truth About Obamacare, Part IV: Queen Kathleen

Kathleen Sebelius is now the Queen of HHS, not the Secretary.  Just read this brief excerpt from part 2 of the PPACA.

PART 2—CONSUMER CHOICES AND INSUR- 

ANCE COMPETITION THROUGH HEALTH 

BENEFIT EXCHANGES 

SEC. 1311 ø42 U.S.C. 13031¿. AFFORDABLE CHOICES OF HEALTH BEN- 

EFIT PLANS. 

(a) ASSISTANCETOSTATES TOESTABLISHAMERICANHEALTH 

BENEFITEXCHANGES.— 

(1) PLANNINGANDESTABLISHMENT GRANTS.—There shall 

be appropriated to the Secretary, out of any moneys in the 

Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an amount necessary to 

enable the Secretary to make awards, not later than 1 year 

after the date of enactment of this Act, to States in the amount 

specified in paragraph (2) for the uses described in paragraph 

(3). 

(2) AMOUNTSPECIFIED.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary 

shall determine the total amount that the Secretary will make 

available to each State for grants under this subsection. 

(3) USEOFFUNDS.—A State shall use amounts awarded 

under this subsection for activities (including planning activi- 

ties) related to establishing an American Health Benefit Ex- 

change, as described in subsection (b). 

(4) RENEWABILITYOFGRANT.— 

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70 

Sec. 1311 PPACA (Consolidated) 

(A) INGENERAL.—Subject to subsection (d)(4), the Sec- 

retary may renew a grant awarded under paragraph (1) if 

the State recipient of such grant— 

(i) is making progress, as determined by the Sec- 

retary, toward— 

(I) establishing an Exchange; and 

(II) implementing the reforms described in 

subtitles A and C (and the amendments made by 

such subtitles); and 

(ii) is meeting such other benchmarks as the Sec- 

retary may establish. 

(B) LIMITATION.—No grant shall be awarded under 

this subsection after January 1, 2015. 

(5) TECHNICALASSISTANCETOFACILITATEPARTICIPATIONIN 

SHOP EXCHANGES.—The Secretary shall provide technical as- 

sistance to States to facilitate the participation of qualified 

small businesses in such States in SHOP Exchanges. 

(b) AMERICANHEALTHBENEFITEXCHANGES.— 

(1) INGENERAL.—Each State shall, not later than January 

1, 2014, establish an American Health Benefit Exchange (re- 

ferred to in this title as an ‘‘Exchange’’) for the State that— 

(A) facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans; 

(B) provides for the establishment of a Small Business 

Health Options Program (in this title referred to as a 

‘‘SHOP Exchange’’) that is designed to assist qualified em- 

ployers in the State who are small employers in facili- 

tating the enrollment of their employees in qualified 

health plans offered in the small group market in the 

State; and 

(C) meets the requirements of subsection (d). 

(2) MERGEROFINDIVIDUALANDSHOPEXCHANGES.—A State 

may elect to provide only one Exchange in the State for pro- 

viding both Exchange and SHOP Exchange services to both 

qualified individuals and qualified small employers, but only if 

the Exchange has adequate resources to assist such individuals 

and employers. 

(c) RESPONSIBILITIESOFTHESECRETARY.— 

(1) INGENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by regulation, estab- 

lish criteria for the certification of health plans as qualified 

health plans. Such criteria shall require that, to be certified, 

a plan shall, at a minimum— 

(A) meet marketing requirements, and not employ 

marketing practices or benefit designs that have the effect 

of discouraging the enrollment in such plan by individuals 

with significant health needs; 

(B) ensure a sufficient choice of providers (in a manner 

consistent with applicable network adequacy provisions 

under section 2702(c) of the Public Health Service Act), 

and provide information to enrollees and prospective en- 

rollees on the availability of in-network and out-of-network 

providers; 

(C) include within health insurance plan networks 

those essential community providers, where available, that 

serve predominately low-income, medically-underserved in- 

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71 Sec. 1311 

PPACA (Consolidated) 

dividuals, such as health care providers defined in section 

340B(a)(4) of the Public Health Service Act and providers 

described in section 1927(c)(1)(D)(i)(IV) of the Social Secu- 

rity Act as set forth by section 221 of Public Law 111–8, 

except that nothing in this subparagraph shall be con- 

strued to require any health plan to provide coverage for 

any specific medical procedure; 

(D)(i) be accredited with respect to local performance 

on clinical quality measures such as the Healthcare Effec- 

tiveness Data and Information Set, patient experience rat- 

ings on a standardized Consumer Assessment of 

Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, as well as con- 

sumer access, utilization management, quality assurance, 

provider credentialing, complaints and appeals, network 

adequacy and access, and patient information programs by 

any entity recognized by the Secretary for the accredita- 

tion of health insurance issuers or plans (so long as any 

such entity has transparent and rigorous methodological 

and scoring criteria); or 

(ii) receive such accreditation within a period estab- 

lished by an Exchange for such accreditation that is appli- 

cable to all qualified health plans; 

(E) implement a quality improvement strategy de- 

scribed in subsection (g)(1); 

(F) utilize a uniform enrollment form that qualified in- 

dividuals and qualified employers may use (either elec- 

tronically or on paper) in enrolling in qualified health 

plans offered through such Exchange, and that takes into 

account criteria that the National Association of Insurance 

Commissioners develops and submits to the Secretary; 

(G) utilize the standard format established for pre- 

senting health benefits plan options; 

(H) provide information to enrollees and prospective 

enrollees, and to each Exchange in which the plan is of- 

fered, on any quality measures for health plan perform- 

ance endorsed under section 399JJ of the Public Health 

Service Act, as applicable; and 

(I) report to the Secretary at least annually and in 

such manner as the Secretary shall require, pediatric qual- 

ity reporting measures consistent with the pediatric qual- 

ity reporting measures established under section 1139A of 

the Social Security Act. øAs added by section 10203(a)¿ 

(2) RULEOFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in paragraph (1)(C) 

shall be construed to require a qualified health plan to contract 

with a provider described in such paragraph if such provider 

refuses to accept the generally applicable payment rates of 

such plan. 

(3) RATINGSYSTEM.—The Secretary shall develop a rating 

system that would rate qualified health plans offered through 

an Exchange in each benefits level on the basis of the relative 

quality and price. The Exchange shall include the quality rat- 

ing in the information provided to individuals and employers 

through the Internet portal established under paragraph (4). 

The Truth About Obamacare, Part III: The Twelve Monkeys

Q:  If you have 12 monkeys, each typing 60 words/minute, how long would it take for them to write Obamacare?

A:  9 hours and 50 minutes.*

*Based on an estimated 425,116 words in the PPACA

The Truth About Obamacare, Part 2: Freedom to Choose

Did you know that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes Free Choice Vouchers?  I thought the democrats were against vouchers.  Then again they are in favor of "free choice" when it comes to terminating a pregnancy.  I do not think this is about abortion, though.  For the life of me, I can not tell what it is about.  Maybe you can.  If so, then YOU are Smarter Than Congress.
This excerpt is from pages 835-838 of the PPACA (oh, and by the way, judging from the number of typos and misspellings, not only did no one ever read this, they never proofread it either):

SEC. 10108. FREE CHOICE VOUCHERS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—An offering employer shall provide free 

choice vouchers to each qualified employee of such employer. 

(b) OFFERING EMPLOYER.—For purposes of this section, the 

term ‘‘offering employer’’ means any employer who— 

(1) offers minimum essential coverage to its employees 

consisting of coverage through an eligible employer-sponsored 

plan; and 

(2) pays any portion of the costs of such plan. 

(c) QUALIFIEDEMPLOYEE.—For purposes of this section— 

(1) INGENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified employee’’ means, 

with respect to any plan year of an offering employer, any em- 

ployee— 

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June 9, 2010 

836 

Sec. 10108 PPACA (Consolidated) 

(A) whose required contribution (as determined under 

section 5000A(e)(1)(B)) for minimum essential coverage 

through an eligible employer-sponsored plan— 

(i) exceeds 8 percent of such employee’s household 

income for the taxable year described in section 

1412(b)(1)(B) which ends with or within in the plan 

year; and 

(ii) does not exceed 9.8 percent of such employee’s 

household income for such taxable year; 

(B) whose household income for such taxable year is 

not greater than 400 percent of the poverty line for a fam- 

ily of the size involved; and 

(C) who does not participate in a health plan offered 

by the offering employer. 

(2) INDEXING.—In the case of any calendar year beginning 

after 2014, the Secretary shall adjust the 8 percent under 

paragraph (1)(A)(i) and 9.8 percent under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) 

for the calendar year to reflect the rate of premium growth be- 

tween the preceding calendar year and 2013 over the rate of 

income growth for such period. 

(d) FREECHOICEVOUCHER.— 

(1) AMOUNT.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of any free choice 

voucher provided under subsection (a) shall be equal to the 

monthly portion of the cost of the eligible employer-spon- 

sored plan which would have been paid by the employer if 

the employee were covered under the plan with respect to 

which the employer pays the largest portion of the cost of 

the plan. Such amount shall be equal to the amount the 

employer would pay for an employee with self-only cov- 

erage unless such employee elects family coverage (in 

which case such amount shall be the amount the employer 

would pay for family coverage). 

(B) DETERMINATIONOFCOST.—The cost of any health 

plan shall be determined under the rules similar to the 

rules of section 2204 of the Public Health Service Act, ex- 

cept that such amount shall be adjusted for age and cat- 

egory of enrollment in accordance with regulations estab- 

lished by the Secretary. 

(2) USE OF VOUCHERS.—An Exchange shall credit the 

amount of any free choice voucher provided under subsection 

(a) to the monthly premium of any qualified health plan in the 

Exchange in which the qualified employee is enrolled and the 

offering employer shall pay any amounts so credited to the Ex- 

change. 

(3) PAYMENTOFEXCESS AMOUNTS.—If the amount of the 

free choice voucher exceeds the amount of the premium of the 

qualified health plan in which the qualified employee is en- 

rolled for such month, such excess shall be paid to the em- 

ployee. 

(e) OTHERDEFINITIONS.—Any term used in this section which 

is also used in section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

shall have the meaning given such term under such section 5000A. 

(f) EXCLUSIONFROMINCOMEFOREMPLOYEE.— 

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837 Sec. 10108 

PPACA (Consolidated) 

(1) INGENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of 

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 

after section 139C the following new section: 

‘‘SEC. 139D. FREE CHOICE VOUCHERS. 

‘‘Gross income shall not include the amount of any free choice 

voucher provided by an employer under section 10108 of the Pa- 

tient Protection and Affordable Care Act to the extent that the 

amount of such voucher does not exceed the amount paid for a 

qualified health plan (as defined in section 1301 of such Act) by the 

taxpayer.’’. 

(2) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections for part 

III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 

inserting after the item relating to section 139C the following 

new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139D. Free choice vouchers.’’. 

(3) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by this sub- 

section shall apply to vouchers provided after December 31, 

2013. 

(g) DEDUCTIONALLOWEDTOEMPLOYER.— 

(1) INGENERAL.—Section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue 

Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following 

new sentence: ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1), the amount of 

a free choice voucher provided under section 10108 of the Pa- 

tient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall be treated as an 

amount for compensation for personal services actually ren- 

dered.’’. 

(2) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by this sub- 

section shall apply to vouchers provided after December 31, 

2013. 

(h) VOUCHERTAKENINTOACCOUNTINDETERMININGPREMIUM 

CREDIT.— 

(1) øAdded a subparagraph (D) to section 36(c)(2) of the 

IRC, added by section 1401¿ 

(2) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by this sub- 

section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 

31, 2013. 

(i) COORDINATIONWITHEMPLOYERRESPONSIBILITIES.— 

(1) SHAREDRESPONSIBILITYPENALTY.— 

(A) øAdded a paragraph (3) to section 4980H(c) of the 

IRC, added by section 1513¿ 

(B) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by this 

paragraph shall apply to months beginning after December 

31, 2013. 

(2) øAmended section 18B(a)(3) of FLSA, added by section 

1512¿ 

(j) EMPLOYERREPORTING.— 

(1) øAmended section 6056(a) of the IRC, added by section 

1514¿ 

(2) øReplaced subsection (f) of section 6056 of the IRC, 

added by section 1514¿ 

(3) øMade miscellaneous conforming amendments to sec- 

tions 6056 and 6724(d) of the IRC, added by section 1514, as 

well as a table of sections amendment¿ 

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June 9, 2010 

838 

Sec. 10109 PPACA (Consolidated) 

(4) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by this sub- 

section shall apply to periods beginning after December 31, 

2013. 

SEC

The Truth About Obamacare

This excerpt  from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act explains the so-called individual mandate.  If you can read it, then YOU are SMARTER than Congress.  If you can read it and understand it, the you are smarter than ANYBODY.  If you can read it and stay awake, you are probably taking ritalin.   And for you liberals:  are you sure you like this law?

‘SEC. 5000A. REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COV- 

ERAGE. 

‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN MINIMUMESSENTIAL COV- 

ERAGE.—An applicable individual shall for each month beginning 

after 2013 ensure that the individual, and any dependent of the in- 

dividual who is an applicable individual, is covered under min- 

imum essential coverage for such month. 

‘‘(b) SHAREDRESPONSIBILITYPAYMENT.— 

‘‘(1) INGENERAL.—øReplaced by section 10106(b)¿ If a tax- 

payer who is an applicable individual, or an applicable indi- 

vidual for whom the taxpayer is liable under paragraph (3), 

fails to meet the requirement of subsection (a) for 1 or more 

months, then, except as provided in subsection (e), there is 

hereby imposed on the taxpayer a penalty with respect to such 

failures in the amount determined under subsection (c). 

‘‘(2) INCLUSIONWITHRETURN.—Any penalty imposed by 

this section with respect to any month shall be included with 

a taxpayer’s return under chapter 1 for the taxable year which 

includes such month. 

‘‘(3) PAYMENTOFPENALTY.—If an individual with respect 

to whom a penalty is imposed by this section for any month— 

‘‘(A) is a dependent (as defined in section 152) of an- 

other taxpayer for the other taxpayer’s taxable year in- 

cluding such month, such other taxpayer shall be liable for 

such penalty, or 

‘‘(B) files a joint return for the taxable year including 

such month, such individual and the spouse of such indi- 

vidual shall be jointly liable for such penalty. 

‘‘(c) AMOUNTOFPENALTY.—øParagraphs (1) and (2) were re- 

vised in their entirety by section 10106(b)(2)¿ 

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June 9, 2010 June 9, 2010 

146 

Sec. 1501 PPACA (Consolidated) 

‘‘(1) INGENERAL.—The amount of the penalty imposed by 

this section on any taxpayer for any taxable year with respect 

to failures described in subsection (b)(1) shall be equal to the 

lesser of— 

‘‘(A) the sum of the monthly penalty amounts deter- 

mined under paragraph (2) for months in the taxable year 

during which 1 or more such failures occurred, or 

‘‘(B) an amount equal to the national average premium 

for qualified health plans which have a bronze level of cov- 

erage, provide coverage for the applicable family size in- 

volved, and are offered through Exchanges for plan years 

beginning in the calendar year with or within which the 

taxable year ends. 

‘‘(2) MONTHLYPENALTYAMOUNTS.—For purposes of para- 

graph (1)(A), the monthly penalty amount with respect to any 

taxpayer for any month during which any failure described in 

subsection (b)(1) occurred is an amount equal to 1⁄12 of the 

greater of the following amounts: 

‘‘(A) FLATDOLLARAMOUNT.—An amount equal to the 

lesser of— 

‘‘(i) the sum of the applicable dollar amounts for 

all individuals with respect to whom such failure oc- 

curred during such month, or 

‘‘(ii) 300 percent of the applicable dollar amount 

(determined without regard to paragraph (3)(C)) for 

the calendar year with or within which the taxable 

year ends. 

‘‘(B) PERCENTAGEOFINCOME.—øAs revised by section 

1002(a)(1) of HCERA¿ An amount equal to the following 

percentage of the excess of the taxpayer’s household in- 

come for the taxable year over the amount of gross income 

specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer 

for the taxable year: 

‘‘(i) 1.0 percent for taxable years beginning in 

2014. 

‘‘(ii) 2.0 percent for taxable years beginning in 

2015. 

‘‘(iii) 2.5 percent for taxable years beginning after 

2015. 

‘‘(3) APPLICABLEDOLLARAMOUNT.—øAs revised by section 

10106(b)(3) and by section 1002(a)(2) of HCERA¿ For purposes 

of paragraph (1)— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subpara- 

graphs (B) and (C), the applicable dollar amount is $695. 

‘‘(B) PHASEIN.—The applicable dollar amount is $95 

for 2014 and $325 for 2015. 

‘‘(C) SPECIALRULEFORINDIVIDUALSUNDERAGE18.— 

If an applicable individual has not attained the age of 18 

as of the beginning of a month, the applicable dollar 

amount with respect to such individual for the month shall 

be equal to one-half of the applicable dollar amount for the 

calendar year in which the month occurs. 

‘‘(D) INDEXINGOF AMOUNT.—In the case of any cal- 

endar year beginning after 2016, the applicable dollar 

146 

Sec. 1501 PPACA (Consolidated) 

‘‘(1) INGENERAL.—The amount of the penalty imposed by 

this section on any taxpayer for any taxable year with respect 

to failures described in subsection (b)(1) shall be equal to the 

lesser of— 

‘‘(A) the sum of the monthly penalty amounts deter- 

mined under paragraph (2) for months in the taxable year 

during which 1 or more such failures occurred, or 

‘‘(B) an amount equal to the national average premium 

for qualified health plans which have a bronze level of cov- 

erage, provide coverage for the applicable family size in- 

volved, and are offered through Exchanges for plan years 

beginning in the calendar year with or within which the 

taxable year ends. 

‘‘(2) MONTHLYPENALTYAMOUNTS.—For purposes of para- 

graph (1)(A), the monthly penalty amount with respect to any 

taxpayer for any month during which any failure described in 

subsection (b)(1) occurred is an amount equal to 1⁄12 of the 

greater of the following amounts: 

‘‘(A) FLATDOLLARAMOUNT.—An amount equal to the 

lesser of— 

‘‘(i) the sum of the applicable dollar amounts for 

all individuals with respect to whom such failure oc- 

curred during such month, or 

‘‘(ii) 300 percent of the applicable dollar amount 

(determined without regard to paragraph (3)(C)) for 

the calendar year with or within which the taxable 

year ends. 

‘‘(B) PERCENTAGEOFINCOME.—øAs revised by section 

1002(a)(1) of HCERA¿ An amount equal to the following 

percentage of the excess of the taxpayer’s household in- 

come for the taxable year over the amount of gross income 

specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer 

for the taxable year: 

‘‘(i) 1.0 percent for taxable years beginning in 

2014. 

‘‘(ii) 2.0 percent for taxable years beginning in 

2015. 

‘‘(iii) 2.5 percent for taxable years beginning after 

2015. 

‘‘(3) APPLICABLEDOLLARAMOUNT.—øAs revised by section 

10106(b)(3) and by section 1002(a)(2) of HCERA¿ For purposes 

of paragraph (1)— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subpara- 

graphs (B) and (C), the applicable dollar amount is $695. 

‘‘(B) PHASEIN.—The applicable dollar amount is $95 

for 2014 and $325 for 2015. 

‘‘(C) SPECIALRULEFORINDIVIDUALSUNDERAGE18.— 

If an applicable individual has not attained the age of 18 

as of the beginning of a month, the applicable dollar 

amount with respect to such individual for the month shall 

be equal to one-half of the applicable dollar amount for the 

calendar year in which the month occurs. 

‘‘(D) INDEXINGOF AMOUNT.—In the case of any cal- 

endar year beginning after 2016, the applicable dollar 

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June 9, 2010 

147 Sec. 1501 

PPACA (Consolidated) 

amount shall be equal to $695, increased by an amount 

equal to— 

‘‘(i) $695, multiplied by 

‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 

under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year, determined 

by substituting ‘calendar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 

1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

If the amount of any increase under clause (i) is not a mul- 

tiple of $50, such increase shall be rounded to the next 

lowest multiple of $50. 

‘‘(4) TERMSRELATINGTOINCOMEANDFAMILIES.—For pur- 

poses of this section— 

‘‘(A) FAMILYSIZE.—The family size involved with re- 

spect to any taxpayer shall be equal to the number of indi- 

viduals for whom the taxpayer is allowed a deduction 

under section 151 (relating to allowance of deduction for 

personal exemptions) for the taxable year. 

‘‘(B) HOUSEHOLD INCOME.—The term ‘household in- 

come’ means, with respect to any taxpayer for any taxable 

year, an amount equal to the sum of—øshown to reflect 

probable amendment made by section 1004(a)(1)(C) of 

HCERA¿ 

‘‘(i) the modified adjusted gross income of the tax- 

payer, plus 

‘‘(ii) the aggregate modified adjusted gross in- 

comes of all other individuals who— 

‘‘(I) were taken into account in determining 

the taxpayer’s family size under paragraph (1), 

and 

‘‘(II) were required to file a return of tax im- 

posed by section 1 for the taxable year. 

‘‘(C) MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.—øReplaced 

by section 1004(a)(2)(B)¿ The term ‘modified adjusted gross 

income’ means adjusted gross income increased by— 

‘‘(i) any amount excluded from gross income under 

section 911, and 

‘‘(ii) any amount of interest received or accrued by 

the taxpayer during the taxable year which is exempt 

from tax. 

‘‘(d) APPLICABLEINDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this section— 

‘‘(1) INGENERAL.—The term ‘applicable individual’ means, 

with respect to any month, an individual other than an indi- 

vidual described in paragraph (2), (3), or (4). 

‘‘(2) RELIGIOUSEXEMPTIONS.— 

‘‘(A) RELIGIOUS CONSCIENCE EXEMPTION.—øReplaced 

by section 10106(c)¿ Such term shall not include any indi- 

vidual for any month if such individual has in effect an ex- 

emption under section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient Protec- 

tion and Affordable Care Act which certifies that such in- 

dividual is— 

‘‘(i) a member of a recognized religious sect or divi- 

sion thereof which is described in section 1402(g)(1), 

and 

Contraceptive Coverage and Obamaism

President Obama, in a great display of magnanimity, has backed off from his requirement that all employers, including religious institutions, provide "free" contraceptive and abortion services to their employees.  With this concession,  the encroachment by Obamacare on  religious freedom seems to have been forestalled.  Now we come to the next layer of the onion:  encroachment by Obamacare on economic freedom.

The new ruling by Obama--and I am setting aside, for the sake of argument, the issue of whether Obama has the authority to make such rulings--is that insurance companies, not employers, will be required to provide "free" contraceptive services to all women who request them.  My understanding is that this includes conventional birth control pills as well as Plan B One Step, aka the morning after pill.  I do not know whether cervical rings, diaphragms,  IUDs, Norplant, and  tubal ligation are covered, but to keep it simple, I will consider only oral contraception.

Everyone, I hope, understands that under Obama's edict, contraceptives are not FREE.  If insurance companies are required to provide them free of charge to their customers, then insurance premiums will go up.  This means that everyone who pays premiums (or taxes, in the case of Medicaid, Medicare and the public option under Obamacare) will be paying for those who use contraceptives.

Of course, all insurance follows this model.  You pay a premium with the understanding that you may never benefit from insurance, and that someone else may.   Most non-diabetics do not object to diabetics receiving covered health care services for their diabetes.   Most people with healthy hearts do not object to people with heart disease receiving covered health care services for their heart disease.  Insurance is a method to transfer wealth from the healthy to the ill.  From non-diabetics to diabetics. From healthy hearts to weakened hearts.   From the non-injured to the injured.  From cancer-free to cancer.   Does anyone object to this.  I think not.

But what about the contraceptive mandate.  This is a transfer of wealth from men to women.  From people who abstain to people who are sexually active.  From homosexuals to heterosexuals. From the monogamous to the promiscuous.   From older people to younger people.  From women who have had their tubes tied to those who have not.  From women who's husbands have had vasectomies to those who's husbands have not.   From people who want to have children to those who do not.  From Asians,  Hispanics and Blacks (56.4%,  68.2% and 78.4% usage of birth control pills, respectively) to Whites (88.8% usage) [1].

Is this even consistent with the tenets of liberalism?   I agree with using insurance premiums to allow the sick to receive health care.  I can even see the rationale, though I disagree with it, for the transfer of wealth from rich to poor.  But this?   Transfer of wealth to make it easier for people to have recreational sex?   That, my friends, is not liberalism, it is Obamaism.

[1] Use of Contraceptives in the United States, 1982-2008, US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, P.5, Table 2,  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_029.pdf

New York Times to Obama: YOU LIED!

This article says it all:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/health/policy/18health.html?emc=eta1


Can it be that even the New York Times is waking up?  Has the old grey lady joined the Tea Party?

McChrystal for...VP?

According to Michael Hastings*, General Stanley McChrystal's favorite movie is Talladega Nights.
My theory is that he has watched one too many reruns of Under Siege 2:  Dark Territory, and is channelling the nameless-disgruntled-pepper-spray-eating-former-special-ops-rogue-commando played by Everitt McGill (pictured above).  As a result of his carefully cultivated, but true, tougher than thou image,  the talk-radio circuit has brought up the idea of McChrystal for President.  Actually, it is not a bad idea, and is just what this country needs, a physic to cleanse us after the current occupant leaves the White House.

However, I fear a different outcome.  Remember, McChrystal voted for Obama, and it was plain as day, from the beginning of the campaign, what Obama was:   a metrosexual, a member of the castrata elite, whose only skills were agitation and fund-raising. That McChrystal voted for Obama rather than the battlefield-tested McCain shows clearly that the general is not a hard core Republican.

Q:  How could a guy like McChrystal vote for a guy like Obama?
A:  Because his first choice was not in the race.

Hastings article makes one brief reference to another political camp that is neither the GOP nor Obama, but that has feelings for McChrystal, and is crouching in the wings waiting for the right moment to pounce:

Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal's inner circle. "Hillary had Stan's back during the strategic review," says an adviser. "She said, 'If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.' "

Could it be that the Secretary of State will recruit the General as a running mate in a bid to usurp the Emperor?  I am not making a prediction, only thinking about worst case scenarios.


*Rolling Stone, June 22, 2010

More inconvenient truth

What happened to the vaunted consensus on global warming?   Consider the evidence reported in this article from the British Newspaper, "The Register:"

Antarctic glacier melt maybe 'not due to climate change, by Lewis Page, June 21,2010   It says that, although there may be some melting of the Pine Island Glacier,  it is not because of a change in the earth's temperature.  In a way, it is earth-shattering evidence, but you will not find it on NBC.  

Kudos to marklevinshow.com for finding this link.

See also my earlier blog, Boo-hoo, no more man-made global warming.

P.s.  Maybe one of these Energizer battery powered subs could shut off the Deepwater Horizon well as well.  Maybe Obama can suggest it to Hayward the next time they play golf.

The Big Hug

One last time, a Democrat role model in action:

Obviously, he does support Obama's agenda.

What CEOs Make

"Lets see, what costs can I cut to keep premiums down????"

Just in case you were worried about insurance company executives, there's this from the AMA News, May 10, 2010:*

CEO salaries for 2009:

Ronald Williams, Aetna: $18,058,162.

H. Edward Hanway, Cigna: $18,818,467.

Allen F. Wise, Coventry: $17,427,789.

Jay Gellert, Health Net: $3,643,342.

Michael McCallister, Humana: $6,509,452.

Stephen Hemsley, United: $8,901,916.

Angela Braly, Wellpoint: $13,108,198.

I feel sorry for poor Jay Gellert. How can he even show his face at an insurance company ceo party? Does he even get an invitation?

Mind you, I am a good conservative. I do not object to obsce--I mean, high--salaries. I am sure every penny is earned, and I am sure they make every effort to keep our premiums down.

*"Health plan gains bring higher pay packages for CEOs" Bob Cook, AMA News.
Photo of Ronald Williams, Aetna CEO, AP.

Romney for President?

So, Mitt Romney was attacked by an angry passenger before his flight from Vancouver to LA (Michelle Ruiz, AOL News, 16 Feb 2010). But that is not the most amazing part of the story. This is:

Romney, 62, and his wife, Ann, who were returning from the Olympics, were reportedly sitting in the economy section before
takeoff when Romney's routine request enraged the passenger sitting in front of
his wife.

Mitt Romney sitting in the economy section? Damn! I figured he had a G5. He must really be a man of the people. Romney for President!

Photo: Amy Sancetta, AP

When in Vegas do Like the Vegans

Finally, Obama says something I agree with (AOL News, 2 Feb 2010):

"When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It's time your government did the same."

Obama seems to have a thing about Vegas. This is the second time he has insulted that great city. Harry Reid must be seething, but Harry, this time Obama is right. You should not blow your child's college fund at a casino; and that goes for Atlantic City, too, and eastern Connecticut, and New Orleans. The funny thing is, they are all squirming, trying to apologize without losing face.

But the Vegas remark is not the the real scandal in the President's comments.

The scandal is in the last sentence: "Its time your government did the same." He has the gall to brag about making "tough choices" after proposing a $3,800,000,000,000.00 budget, of which $1,400,000,000,000.00 is borrowed???? If I were to follow his government's example, I would be scheduling a flight to Vegas now, and requesting a withdrawal of my entire IRA thinking that I am likely to double or triple it at the slots, and submitting a couple of credit card applications, since the two I have is not nearly enough. That is what I call prioritizing.

It is great having a president who is a role model.

P.s. Liberals, FYI: $3,800,000,000,000. = $3.8 trillion

Environmental Update

I have heard it said that our most precious and dwindling resource is fresh water.  But let’s not put the environmentalists to work on that one, PLEASE.  They ALWAYS get it wrong.  Here is my sad-but-true story about the fight to save fresh water.

                         

About 2 years ago we renovated our kitchen.   Part of the job was a new dishwasher.  We had a 20 year old model that did a great job of cleaning, but it was ugly and noisy, so we bought a new Bosch, a brand that we had used before and our past experience with that brand was very positive.   But the new one—it just did not do a good job:  water spots on the glasses, dirt left on the plates and utensils. After about a year of cajoling the vendor, we finally had an “expert” come in to check it out.   The diagnosis?  Hard water.  But, we asked, why did the ugly, noisy, obsolete 20 year old dishwasher do a good job.

He answered that older dishwashers used 13-15 gallons of water, but the newer ones, in the interest of SAVING WATER, only use about 4 gallons.  Well, it seems if you use more water, the hardness (calcium and magnesium salts) gets washed away, but if you use less, the hardness does not get washed away.  Furthermore, the hardness build up in the circulation of the newer models, eventually restricting the flow of water so that the problem gets progressively worse.   If the water is  soft, as in our previous home, NO PROBLEM.  But, if the water is hard, as it is in most of the U.S., you have to get a water softener!

So, we installed a water softener, to the tune of $1850.00, and that’s cheap.  Here is the catch:   every third night or so, sometimes more, the water softener has to regenerate, a process that CONSUMES MORE THAN 25 GALLONS OF WATER.

For the sake of this discussion, I will overlook the cost of municipal water, which I have to pay for.  Lets just focus on the enviromental aspect:

Let’s say we run our dishwasher once a day.  That means we save 10 gallons of water per day compared with the old fashioned model.  If we regenerate the softener every 3 days (that’s the bare minimum) thats 25 gallons every three days (also the bare minimum).

So, every 9 days we save 90 gallons with the dishwasher and spend 75 gallons (minimum) with the water softener.   That is a best case scenario.   The reality is, the softener has to be regenerated more often that every 3 days and uses more than 25 gallons per cycle.

Hardly seems like much of a boon to the water supply.  It was a boon to my plumber, and to Blake Water Systems, who made the softener.

Do the geniuses, i.e., Congress,  who make environmental regulations ever bother to think these things through? 

 

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